Improvement in potato-planters



2 Sheets--Sheet1.

JOSEPH L. TRUE.

Improvement in Potato Planters.

Patented April 16,1872.

2 Sheets--SheeI-2. JOSEPH L. TRUE.

Improvement in Potato Planters.

N0. 125,705, 7 PatentedApril16,1872..

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JOSEPH L. TRUE, OF BENTON, MAINE.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 125,705, dated April16, 1872.

To all whom may it concern:

Be it known that I, JOSEPH L. TRUE, of Benton, in the county of Kennebecand State of Maine, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inPotato-Planters; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full,clear,

. and exact description of the same, reference being had to theaccompanying drawing which forms apart of this specification, andrinwhich.

The nature of my invention relates to certain improvements in machinesfor planting potatoes, whereby a more efficient and convenient machinethan heretoforeused is produced-one whichis simple, durable, and strong,and which can be manufactured at comparatively small cost; also to thecombination, with the potatoplanting devices, of an automaticfertilizerdropper, as herein fully described.

In the drawing, the part markedArepresents the frame of the machine. 13B indicate the traveling and driving wheels, which are fixed to the endsof the axles O, whereon the forward part of the frame A is mounted insuch a manner that said axle-'0 will revolve with the wheels when themachineis moved forward, the axle turning in suitable bearings on theunder side of the frame. The frame A is composed, in this instance, oftwo parallel longitudinal metallic bars or side pieces, a, at, havingtheir forward ends turned inward and joined to each other, as indicatedin Fig. 1, and the point of the frame thus formed is furnished with aneye or ring, to which the team may be attached for drawing the machine.

The central portion of the machine is furnished with a circular platformor bed-piece, A, above which the hopper and dropping devices arearranged. This bed-piece may be cast with the side pieces a a, and is soshown in the present instance; but it may be made separately therefromwhen desired. It has an opening at its rear side of proper form and sizeto allow of the passage of the seed and fertilizer as they fall from thedropping devices. The rear ends of the side pieces a a are secured to across-piece or transom, A which carries the covering-bladesD D, the endsof the bars being furnished with flanges, which fit onto and are boltedto the upper and'front sides of the transom-piece, as shown, so as toform a rigid and strong connection. The frame may be made in a somewhatdifferent form, if desired, and the wheels connected to the shaft oraxle by ratchet devices to prevent the mechanism from acting when thewheels turn backward. A clutch device may also be arrangedfor throwingthe planting mechanism into and out of gear with the driving-shaft.

The standards of the covering-blades D, the upper ends of which areprovided with slotted plates D, are secured to the transom A by bolts 12b, which pass through the slots formed in the plates D and through slotsformed in the transom, bearing-plates 0 being arranged at the top toreceive the pressure of the nuts. The coverers can be adjusted atdifferent angles, for covering the seed to a greater or less depth, byloosening the nuts upon the bolts 1) b and moving the coverers t0 thedesired position, and then retightening the nuts.

E indicates the hopper for holding the potatoes. It is located above thebed-piece at the central part of the frame; and it is secured in placebymeans of projections E, which fit between ear-pieces d that projectfrom. the sides of thebed-plate A the parts being retained together bymeans of pins or bolts, which pass through the ear-pieces andprojections E. The hopper E is made in cylindrical form, as shown, andmay be constructed in sections or hoops set one above another, so thatit can be adjusted to contain a greater or less quantity of potatoes.The hopper is set with its lower edge a short distance above the surfaceof the plate A so as to allow any dirt or gravel to dropout from amongthe potatoes. Small steadyinglugs are formed on the lower edge of thehopper-rim, which project downward and rest upon the bed-plate A andassist in supporting the hopper.

A horizontally-rotating turn-table or dropping-plate, Ffls arranged inthe bottom of the hopper, and in the central portion of the hopper asecondary or fertilizer hopper, G, the botrevolve with the spindle whilethe hoppers E and G remain stationary. The parts are retained on thespindle H by means of the handnut H screwed upon the upper end of saidspindle. The spindle is furnished with a bevel-gear, H at its lower end,which meshes with a similar gear, 1 at the rear end of a horizontalshaft, I, extending parallel to and supported in bearings g 9 betweenthe side bars a a of the frame A, as shown. The forward end of shaft Iis connected with the revolving axle O by means of bevel-gears O and 1The rotary dropping-plate F isprovided with openings K for the passageof the potatoes, and with openin gs L for the passage of the fertilizingmaterial. These passages are arranged as shown in Figs. 1, 3, and 4.

Rims or flanges hare formed around the openings Katthe under side oftheplate F, which ex-.

tend lower at the outside of the opening than at the side nearest thecenter of the plate; and a pair of curved and tapering arms, 2', arearra'n ged below the inner portion of the flanges h, sufficient spacebeing allowed between the arms and flanges to permit of the passage oftheknife or cutter M. (See Fig. 3.) These arms a? are for the purpose offorcing the potatoes against the cutter; and they also, in connectionwith the flanges h, form guards to prevent the potatoes from escapingbeneath the plate F. A single arm, *5, may be used at each of theopenings, if desired, the one at the front of the opening beingdispensed with.

The knife or cutter M is secured to a crossbar of the frame A, andprojects obliquely upward and forward, as shown in Fig. 3. The blade ismade with projections upon its under side to prevent the cut potatoesfrom adhering thereto. These projections may be formed by forcing out aportion of the metal of the cutter before tempering, or by welding on orotherwise fastening inclined projections to the under side of the blade.

The fertilizer box or hopper G is provided with an opening, G, throughits bottom for the passage of the fertilizing material, and anadjustable gauge-plate, m, is arranged within said opening, whereby theamount of material dropped at each time can be regulated. The

openings L in the plate F pass beneath the openings G as the platerevolves, and thus permit the fertilizing material to drop into thefurrow with the potatoes. The furrow is formed by the curved metallicplow N, which is secured to and extends downward from the frame A, justbeneath the rear part of the hopper E, as shown in the drawing.

The machine is provided with a pair of han-' dies, P P, by means ofwhich it may be conveniently guided by the operator. The cut-off O isarranged to correspond in position with the openings L, so that theupper part of the opening G will be closed at the same time that thelower portion thereof is opened by the passage beneath it of the openingL in the plate F. The ends of the cut-off piece 0 are furnished withupward-projecting fingers s, so that the fertilizing material isconstantly agitated when the machine is in motion.

The operation of my improved potato-planting machine is as follows: Thepotatoes to be planted are placed within the hopper E, and any desiredfertilizing materialsuch as guano, superphosphate of lime, or groundplaster is placed in the hopper G, the guard m having beenpreviously'set at the proper position, so that the opening G willcontain just the amount required for each hill. The machine then beingdrawn forward, the potatoes fall into the openings K in thedropping-plate F, and as said plate revolves the potatoes are cutthrough as the opening K passes the cutter M, and the portion of thepotatoes below the cutter M drop into the furrow formed by the plow N.The cutoff O at the same time passes over and closes the top end of thepassage G, and the opening L is brought beneath said passage, and thefertilizing material contained in the passage G falls into the furrowwith the pieces of potatoes, the whole being covered by the blades D Das the machine moves forward. After the openings K have passed thecutter the potatoes therein drop down upon the bedplate, and are carriedaround by the curved armst' and again brought into contact with theknife and should the potatoes be quite large they will be cut intoseveral pieces, and it will be observed that, when so cut, the pieceswill not be shaved off in slices of a uniform thickness, but will be cutirregularly, owing to the knife being arranged in an oblique positionand the bed-plate being horizontal. When the potatoes fall upon theplate after passing the cutter, a partial revolution is required intheir position in order that the flat-cut side may lie upon the bed asthey naturally arrange themselves, so that the second cut takes off aninclined slice, and the third cut is made at still another angle. Inthis way potatoes are cut so as to leave them in the most approved formfor planting.

The opening K may be reduced in size by the use of a gauge or bushing,T, (see Fig. 6,) which is made to fit within the said opening, and issupported by a flange around its upper end, while it is prevented fromturning around in the opening by means of a small fin, it, formed at oneside, which fits into a corresponding depression, 'u, at one side of theopening.

The bushing-rings T may be made in series of different thicknesses so asto reduce the openings K to a greater or less extent by using thedifferent rings, thus adapting the machine to different sizes ofpotatoes, or for dropping a greater or less number of pieces at a time.

Having described my improvements in potato-planters, what I claimtherein as new and of my invention, and desire to secure by LettersPatent, is

1. The combination of the hopper E with the bed-piece A by means of theprojections E .and ear-pieces d, substantially as shown and described.

2. The combination, with the rotary dropping-plate F, provided with oneor more openings, K, of one or more curved potato-forcing arms, z, andinclined cutter M, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

Witnesses WM. TARBELL, WILLIA K. LUNT.

